Undead Frank’s Zombie Bites

Kate N.G. Sommers/Heavy Table

“Zombie Bites” as a food item doesn’t conjure up the most appealing visions, especially if you’ve spent any time watching The Walking Dead. So count it as a positive that Undead Frank’s food truck doesn’t serve food that looks like bloody brains. The garish green truck, complete with bloody handprints on the back door and a menu full of red blotches, isn’t exactly subtle. But that fits right in to Leslie Bock’s collection of offbeat restaurants, including Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge and Donny Dirk’s Zombie Den.

The latter, located at 2027 N. 2nd St. in Minneapolis, is where you’re most likely to find Undead Frank’s.* There’s a reason for that: Ask for a beverage, and the congenial cook will tell you he has none to sell, but they can help you out at Donny Dirk’s. He also noted that Dirk’s has only frozen pizzas for food items, but guests are welcome to bring their Undead Frank’s in with them. Cross-promotional selling at its finest.

The food is more appealing than the name, yet would benefit from more sassiness (more blood, if you must). A trio of “meltie” sandwiches (chicken, beef, or vegetarian, $7-9) isn’t exactly new and exciting, but each has a decent combination of aged cheddar and fontina cheeses, thoroughly grilled so they ooze out of the sandwich with no half-baked parts in the middle. The chicken meltie is a glorified chicken quesadilla, but with the benefit of a wonderfully butter-crisped tortilla surrounding the filling.

Kate N.G. Sommers/ Heavy Table

The truck’s Voodoo Zombie Bites (above, $5) are Asian wontons with peanut sauce, chicken, Thai chilies, and, oddly, mozzarella, which apparently acts as a binder. It’s not quite a successful combination, and the supposedly spicy peanut sauce is not terribly spicy, more medium. If the idea is to do a take on Americanized ethnic foods (quesadillas, wontons), then using cream cheese rather than mozzarella would have worked better.

Kate N.G. Sommers/Heavy Table

Frank’s Furter (above, $7), a so-called “Nacho-Style Hot Dog,” is more successful: A good, beefy frank lightly drizzled (not drowned) in a cheddar, fontina, and habañero cheese sauce, then dressed with pickled jalapeños, red onions, and fried tortilla strips. The cheese sauce has a decent bit of heat, although the cheddar and fontina keep it from offering the full habañero experience (and good for those who like some spice, but not full “mouth on fire”). The tortilla strips account for the “Nacho-Style” but add nothing to the dog except difficulty when trying to eat and walk at the same time.

Thankfully, the zombie kitsch is relegated to the truck decor itself, without any silly pseudo-blood jokes in the food. There are worse undead to consort with than the ones at Undead Frank’s.

Undead Frank’s Zombie Bites: *Usually found next to Donny Dirk’s Zombie Den Thursday-Saturday 6-10pm, although may be rerouted to Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge to handle overflow summer crowds. Check Facebook or Twitter for other appearances.